House — Neolithic in Corbally (newbridge Rural Ed)

In 1997, archaeological monitoring (Excavation Licence No. 97E0449) of soil-stripping in advance of the development of a large scale sand-and-gravel extraction pit identified the foundations of three structures which were subsequently fully excavated (Excavation Licence No. 98E0094: Purcell 2002, 31-75) ‘House 1’ (designated KD023-114001-) was centrally placed, 3m SE of ‘House 2’ (designated KD023-114002-) and 12m NE of ‘House 3’ (designated KD023-114003-). The remains of substantial foundation trenches were revealed in all three, as well as internal features including post-holes, stake-holes, pits and hearths. External post-holes and pits were also found. The three houses were constructed of post-and-plank walls. ‘House 1’ was the largest of the three, trapezoidal in plan (11.07 NW-SE; 6.73m NE-SW) and narrowing at the SE end, where the doorway appears to have been. A large, continuous foundation trench divided the structure into two chambers, and small discontinuous trenches subdivided a third, smaller chamber. The foundation trenches were very substantial, with post-holes dotted at regular intervals along their length. Large internal post-holes were present, which acted as roof supports, and two large hearths were centrally placed in the largest chamber. A radiocarbon date places the house in the early fourth millennium BC, 3995 BC (5220+80 BP). ‘House 2’ was also trapezoidal in plan (10.77m NW-SE; 5.29m NE-SW) with the narrower end at SE, where the entrance appears to have been. A large, continuous foundation trench divided the house into two chambers. The foundation trenches were substantial, but slightly smaller than in House 1, and also contained post-holes. Pairs of internal post-holes divided the house into aisles, which supported the roof. This house also dates from the fourth millennium BC, 3685 BC (4910±80 BP). ‘House 3’ was the smallest of the three structures and subrectangular in plan (7.37m NW-SE; 6.45m NE-SW). Discontinuous foundation trenches subdivided the building into two chambers. The trenches were substantial, with post-holes dotted regularly along them. The house was divided into aisles by roof-supporting post-holes. A large central hearth was present. A significant quantity of finds was recovered from the sites, including sherds of Western Neolithic, round-bottomed, shouldered bowl pottery and worked stone, including flint, chert, quartz, serpentine, saddle querns, hammer stones and broken fragments of polished stone axes. Further archaeological investigation resulted in the discovery and excavation (Tobin 2001; Excavation Licence No. 01E0299) of three more Neolithic houses (KD023-116001-, KD023-116002- and KD023-116003-) c. 100m to the S. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 19 December 2012